toledoblade.com --

Led by a hospital corpsman decorated for serving in Iraq, four sailors from the USS Toledo are spending this week in their nuclear submarine's namesake city for further medical training, hoping to blaze a trail for other U.S. Navy crews and civilian hospitals.

The three petty officers accompanying Hospital Corpsman First Class Jeffrey Aichelman, who served with U.S. Marines in volatile Fallujah in 2004, will get additional experience handling emergencies at Toledo Hospital and with Toledo Fire Department rescue crews during the unique arrangement, said Petty Officer Aichelman, nicknamed "Doc."

"They will be able to see things they would not be able to see usually," said the 29-year-old southern California native who was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon for his service in Iraq.

A submarine independent duty corpsman, Petty Officer Aichelman is in charge of all medical services on the USS Toledo, including tracking radiation exposure.

The other sailors recently were certified as emergency medical technicians under new Navy requirements prompted by incidents such as dealing with numerous injuries on the USS San Francisco after it struck an uncharted underwater sea mountain two years ago.

"I'll have these guys to help me if anything disastrous happens," said Petty Officer Aichelman, who has been in the Navy 10 years.

Petty Officer Aichelman, Sonar Technician First Class Daniel Charaba, Machinist Mate Second Class Miguel Hernandez, and Fire Control Technician Third Class Douglas Sykes will get training through Thursday with the fire department and at Toledo Hospital, Jobst Vascular Center, and Wildwood Medical Center.

The USS Toledo and Toledo Hospital have had a relationship for several years, with spouses of sailors in the Toledo Family Readiness Group donating toys and other items to young hospital patients, said Cmdr. Howard Goldman, the ship's skipper who also was in Toledo yesterday.

Miguel Hernandez, Douglas Sykes, Daniel Charaba, Dr. Rob Fredrick, vice president of medical affairs at Toledo Hospital, and Jeffrey Aichelman, from left, listen to Brian Biggie, RN, emergency center director and a former Navy man.
( THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY )

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Ties between the submarine and city have expanded further to the Toledo Mud Hens and other organizations, Commander Goldman said.

On Thursday, for example, Toledo restaurateur Tony Packo will be on the submarine docked at Newport News, Va., for upgrades. Mr. Packo will serve the crew a meal from the famed eatery his father founded, he said.

The USS Toledo has two sailors from Toledo, Lt. Mark Rogge and Electronics Technician First Class Robert Smalley, who have helped foster bonds, Commander Goldman said.

All of the boat's crew consider themselves lucky that Ohioans are so patriotic, he said.

"It's great to come back here," Commander Goldman said. "They really appreciate being appreciated."

Commander Goldman spent part of his afternoon inside The Blade on North Superior Street, where he presented a painting of the USS Toledo to Joe Zerbey, the newspaper's vice president-general manager.

The picture, which depicts the submarine transposed over a navigation chart of its home port in New London, Conn., will hang in the building's boardroom.

The commander said the gift is in appreciation for The Blade's news coverage and its support in organizing the current training in Toledo.

The sailors' training is believed to be the first such exchange between a submarine and its namesake city, and other crews are envious of the relationship, Commander Goldman said.

It's important for sailors to get training in communities to broaden their experiences, said Brian Biggie, director of Toledo Hospital's emergency room who was an enlisted man in the Navy for 18 years and is an ensign in the Naval Reserves.

With 52 beds and more than 80,000 visits a year, Toledo Hospital's emergency room treats patients of all ages and illnesses, he told Petty Officers Hernandez and Sykes.

"The emergency department is kind of like the military," Mr. Biggie said.

"We have to know everything," he said.

Commissioned in February, 1995, the USS Toledo is designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships, as well as strike land targets.

The boat, which typically has 130 crew members, was involved in three Persian Gulf deployments and one of the first to launch Tomahawk missiles in Iraq.

Petty Officer Aichelman is not the only USS Toledo sailor who has served in Iraq.

A cook is there now, for example, and a torpedoman recently returned, he said.

"We're all definitely supporting the war effort," Petty Officer Aichelman said.

Staff writer JC Reindl contributed to this report.

Contact Julie M. McKinnon at:
jmckinnon@theblade.com
or 419-724-6087.

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